Slovenia builds Europe's first Beer Fountain

Water fountains appear to be a thing of the past, at least in Slovenia. This country is known for beer being a large part of its culture but a town in central Slovenia has taken it to a entirely new level. They are planning on creating Europe’s first beer fountain.

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Located in the Savinja Valley just 35-miles northeast of the capital city of Ljubljana, lies the small town of Zalec where a little under 5,000 residents call home. This area is known for exporting hops and within the 7,827 square miles of Zalec resides an astounding 30 breweries. With hop plantations appearing everywhere it is little wonder that this place is called the Valley of green gold.

Inspired by the eastern town of Rogaska Slatina where they offer a fountain filled with free mineral water for hotel guests, residents of Zalec thought it would be a great idea to offer a fountain of beer. Not only would this be ideal for locals who are looking for a nice way to relax, but tourists from all over the world will hopefully be fascinated with this novel idea.

This is not a typical fountain but rather standing silver spigots that lay adjacent to each other, each with a unique local Slovenian beer. The plan is for it to be built in a park where visitors can pay an entrance fee of £4.70 which will get them three 30cl servings of beer along with a mug.

In total the project is estimated to cost £275,000. half of which will be paid by the council and the other half will come from private funds. Mayor Janko Kos is extremely supportive saying, "It's true the fountain won't be cheap. But it's a development project, a tourism product.” This was approved recently with a two-thirds majority vote and the other one-third believe that this money could be better spent improving water supplies to local villages. The planning for this beer fountain began in 2013 and the finish date is to be determined.